Machine for testing and straightening arrows

ABSTRACT

A machine is provided for testing the straightness of arrows, for localizing and measuring any want of straightness, and for mechanically correcting any defect of this nature that may be discovered. The machine desirably includes a central stand on which a deflection meter is mounted, together with a straightening lever. A trackway in the form of spaced, parallel horizontal bars is provided. Arrow supporting and rotating carriages are mounted on the trackway with freedom for independent adjustment toward and from the central stand. Each carriage includes two side by side rollers and means for operating the rollers in unison to turn an arrow engaged by the meter and to sustain the arrow during straightening.

United States Patent [1 Lock [451 Nov. 12, 1974 1 MACHINE FOR TESTINGAND STRAIGHTENING ARROWS [76] Inventor: William E. Lock, ll780 MichaelRd., Central Point, Oreg. 97501 [22] Filed: Aug. 9, 1973 [21] Appl. No.:387,124

[52] US. Cl. 72/34, 72/386 [51] Int. Cl B2ld 3/16 [58] Field Of Search72/34, 386

[56] References Cited UNlTED STATES PATENTS 1,060,365 4/1913 Rowe 72/3862,389,206 11/1945 McKinney et ill 72/34 2,876,822 3/1959 Groves 72/343.143.158

8/1964 'Sundquist et al. 72/386 Primar E.\'aminerRichard .l. HerbstAttorney, Agent, or Firm-Clarence M. Crews [57] ABSTRACT A machine isprovided for testing the straightness of arrows, for localizing andmeasuring any want of straightness, and for mechanically correcting anydcfect of this nature that may be discovered. The machine desirablyincludes a central stand on which a deflection meter is mounted,together with a straightening lever. A trackway in the form of spaced,parallel horizontal bars is provided. Arrow supporting and rotatingcarriages are mounted on the trackway with freedom for independentadjustment toward and from the central stand. Each carriage includes twoside by side rollers and means for operating the rollers in unison toturn an arrow engaged by the meter and to sustain the arrow duringstraightening;

6 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures- MACHINE FOR TESTING AND STRAIGHTENINGARROWS This invention relates to archery and more particularly to amachine that tests used arrows for straightness, and straightens arrowsfound to be bent.

In modern archery the shafts of arrows generally take the form ofaluminum tubing which is likely to become bent in use. Each arrow shaftis initially straight and is of uniform internal and external diameter,although one set of arrows may differ from another in internal diameter,external diameter, and/or wall thickness. All such arrows are freelybendable within their elastic limits, and any of them can beobjectionably deformed if strained beyond its elastic limit.Straightening of a deformed arrow shaft demands deformation beyond itselastic limit. Since the .object of archery contests is to test andcompare the skill of contestants, it is very important, in the interestof fairness, to make sure that the contestants compete under equalconditions, This means that all arrows used by acontestannwhetherpreviously usedor not, must be absolutely straight.

Sinceused arrows are frequently found tobe bent, it is important thateach used arrow be tested for straightness and that it be straightenedif found to be defective.

It is a primary object of the invention to provide a light, readilytransportable, efficient and accurate arrow testing and straighteningmachine.

Other objects and advantages will hereinafter appear.

In the drawing forming part of this specification,

FIG. 1 is a view in front elevation of the operating parts of ,my'novelmachine, with an arrow in position for testing'and straightening;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the-structure of FIG. 1 and of the arrow ofFIG. 1, together with an outline of the tray which forms an unitary partof the machine;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary view in front elevation, on a much larger scalethan FIGS. 1 and 2, showing particularly the operatinginstrumentalitiesfor testing and indicating straightness or want of straightness of anarrow, and for correcting want of straightness;

FIGS. 4, and 6 are transverse sectional views taken on the lines 4-4, 55and 66, respectively, of FIG. I, looking in the direction of the arrows,the views being all on a somewhat larger scale than FIG. 1; and

FIG. 7 is a perspective view, on a considerably smaller scale thanFIG.1, showing the carrying case which forms an unitary part of the machinein a closed and latched condition.

My novel machine 10, as seen in FIG. 7, includes, as an unitary partthereof, a carrying case 12. The case 12, which may be made of plywoodor any other suitable sheet material, includes a tray portion 14 whichcomprises a bottom wall 16, a low front ,wall 18, end walls whichincrease uniformly in height from front to rear, and a rear wall 22whose height is desirably onehalf of the total height of the case.

As seen in FIG. 7, the tray 14 is complemented by a cover 24 whichincludes a top wall 26, a front wall 28, a rear wall 30, and end walls32.

The rear walls of the tray and cover, which are desirably'of equalheight, are connected through hinges 34.

The front walls are equipped with complementary 2 members of latches 36.The top wall of the cover is equipped with a carrying handle 38. I

The operating mechanism within the case 12 isall supported from a rigidmetallic base plate 40, which plate is affixed to the bottom wall 16 ofthe tray.

Through fixed, rigid, upstanding plates 42, 44 and 46, two spaced,parallel, horizontal trackway members, desirably in the form of hollowrigid tubes 48,48, are fixedly supported.

Identical carriages 50 are slidingly supported on the trackway members48 at opposite sides of the centrally located plate 44. Since thecarriages are identical a description of one will be equally applicableto the other.

Each carriage 50 includes two vertically disposed parallel plates 52which are secured to one'another by headed machine screws 54 but arespaced at fixed distances from one another by sleeves 56 that areinterposed between the plates and surroundthe shanks of the respectivescrews 54. Each carriage desirably includes two bearing sleeves 58 thatsurround the respective shafts 48 and extend between, through, and wellbeyond, both plates 52.

At their upper ends the plates 52 support, between them inner and outerpulleys 60 and 62, upon'which an elastic belt 64, desirably in the formof a flat rubber band, is trained under tension. The outer pulleyincludes a knurled wheel 66 through which the belt may be finger-driven.

Inner and outer rollers 68 and 70' are revolublysupported by the plates52, being disposed side by side but spaced from one another between thepulleys 60 and 62. The lower run of the belt 64 is an idle run, but'theupper run bears frictionally against the lower sides of rollers 68 and70. The rollers 68 and 70, which always turn in unison, in the directionoppositeto that in which the pulleys 62 are operated, serve to supportbetween them an end portion of an arrow 72. The opposite end of thearrow may be similarly supported by the like structure of the othercarriage. By operation of the pulleys 62 in unison the arrow may beturned in either direction desired. There is no exacting requirement asto how nearly in unison the pulleys must be operated. Generally theturning of either one will turn the arrow.

The arrow shaft obviously extends from carriage to carriage through thetesting station. At the testing station a spring-urged plunger 74 iscaused to bear yieldingly downward, but lightly, against the uppersurface of the arrow shaft. v

The plunger 74 forms a conventional part of a conventional gauge 76. Thegauge is mounted on a central standard 78. Through a rack and pinionconnection (not shown) an indicator hand is turned relative to agraduated dial 81. If the arrow is straight the initial reading of theinstrument will depend upon the thickness of the arrow shaft, and thereading willbe maintained throughout a full revolution of the arrow.Uniformity of reading will indicate that no straightening is required.

If the arrow is not straight a full revolution of the.

When the limits have been determined, the arrow is turned to produce thetop limit reading (convex side of arrow up) and a rigid lever 82,pivotally mounted on the standard 78 by means of a screw 84, washers 86,and a wing nut 88, is swung down for a distance believed to besufficient to cause the next test reading to be consistently at thehalfway mark-in other words, to straighten the arrow. The arrow may thenbe tested again in the same way and further correction may be similarlymade, if required.

The corrective treatment should desirably be made at the point ofgreatest deviation. This may be estimated initially by visualinspectionif the defect is a pronounced one. Otherwise it may be determined bytesting the arrow at various points along the length of its shaft beforetaking any corrective action. Similar tests and similar correction maybe made at different points lengthwise of the shaft until the arrow isfound to be straight.

The rear arm of the lever 82 is connected to a projection 90 on thelower portion of the standard 78 through an elastic member,illustratively a rubber band 92, so that the forward, arrow-bending armof the lever is automatically maintained in an out-of-the-way,upperlimit-of-movement position when not in active use. 7

If, as in the illustrative case, the lever 82 is too long to be housedin-the case 12, in its normal position, it can be readily detached alongwith the rubber band 92 for separate storage in the case 12. Removal andre- 7 placement of the lever can be very quickly effected.

The need for removing the lever can, of course, be obviated byshortening the lever or by enlarging the case, but the relationshipsillustrated have been found most practical.

l have described what I believe to be the best embodiment of myinvention. What I desire to cover by letters patent, however, is set.forth in the'appended claims.

1 claim:

1. An arrow testing and straightening machine for testing straightnessand directly, manually correcting deviations from straightness of arrowshafts composed of freely bendable, metallic tubing, comprising, incombination,

a. a stand located at a central deflection detecting and straighteningstation;

b. a fixed, straight, horizontal trackway constructed and arranged toextend at opposite sides of the deflection detecting and straighteningstation;

c. a pair of cooperative arrow supporting carriages mounted on saidtrackway at opposite sides of said station with freedom for individualadjustment along the trackway toward and from said central station, eachof said carriages including a pair of side by side rollers adaptedjointly to support an arrow shaft segment between them, and meansconstructed and arranged to operate the rollers of each carriage inunison for turning a roller supported arrow;

d. a sensitive, deflection detecting, magnifying and indicatinginstrument of the dial type mounted on the stand and comprising aplunger, spring pressed downward to bear downward against'the upper sideof the arrow shaft being tested, and

e. a manually operable deflection correcting means at saidstation,-engageable with the upper side of the carriage-bridging arrowshaft, and movable freely in a downward direction to deform the arrowshaft beyond its elastic limit, the space beneath the carriage-bridgingarrow shaft being free of obstruction so that the arrow shaft can befreely deformed to any extent dictated by thev judgment of the operator.

2. An arrow testing and straightening machine as set forth in claim 1 inwhich the deflection detecting and indicating means comprises a springloaded plunger, a graduated dial, a rotary indicating pointer associatedwith said dial, and means for rotatively operating the indicatingpointer from the plunger.

3. An arrow testing and straightening machine as set forth in claim 1 inwhich each carriage includes a manually operable belt-driving wheel atthe front of the carriage, a cooperative belt-supporting wheel at therear of the carriage, a belt trained on said front and rear wheels, anda pair of intermediate, arrow-supporting wheels engaged and driven inunison by the upper reach of the belt.

4. An arrow testing and straightening machine as set forth in claim 3 inwhich the belt has the form of a tensed elastic band.

5. An arrow testing and straightening machine as set forth in claim 1 inwhich the manually operable, deflection correcting means includes arigid lever, means on the stand supporting the lever for rockingmovement in a vertical plane, and elastic means connecting a first orinactive arm of the lever to the stand under tension and thereby biasinga second or active arm of the lever to a normal, idle position above thelevel normally occupied by an arrow which is jointly supported by thecarriages.

6. An arrow testing and straightening machine as set forth in claim 1 inwhich a rigid supporting frame is provided for the trackway and thecentral stand, and a carrying case is attached to the frame and therebymade an unitary and permanent part of the machine,.

said carrying case being of right prismatic form and comprising body andcover portions having hingedly connected rear walls of equal height, andcomplementary end walls of variable height with the back wall of thebody exceeding in height the front wall of the body by a substantialamount and with the front wall of the cover exceeding in height the backwall of the cover by substantially the same amount, the construction andarrangement being such that the full height of the carrying case isadequate to contain the complete machine, but the restricted height ofthe front wall of the tray makes fully and freely accessible the meansfor operating the arrow shaft turning rollers.

1. An arrow testing and straightening machine for testing straightnessand directly, manually correcting deviations from straightness of arrowshafts composed of freely bendable, metallic tubing, comprising, incombination, a. a stand located at a central deflection detecting andstraightening station; b. a fixed, straight, horizontal trackwayconstructed and arranged to extend at opposite sides of the deflectiondetecting and straightening station; c. a pair of cooperative arrowsupporting carriages mounted on said trackway at opposite sides of saidstation with freedom for individual adjustment along the trackway towardand from said central station, each of said carriages including a pairof side by side rollers adapted jointly to support an arrow shaftsegment between them, and means constructed and arranged to operate therollers of each carriage in unison for turning a roller supported arrow;d. a sensitive, deflection detecting, magnifying and indicatinginstrument of the dial type mounted on the stand and comprising aplunger, spring pressed downward to bear downward against the upper sideof the arrow shaft being tested, and e. a manually operable deflectioncorrecting means at said station, engageable with the upper side of thecarriagebridging arrow shaft, and movable freely in a downward directionto deform the arrow shaft beyond its elastic limit, the space beneaththe carriage-bridging arrow shaft being free of obstruction so that thearrow shaft can be freely deformed to any extent dictated by thejudgment of the operator.
 2. An arrow testing and straightening machineas set forth in claim 1 in which the deflection detecting and indicatingmeans comprises a spring loaded plunger, a graduated dial, a rotaryindicating pointer associated with said dial, and means for rotativelyoperating the indicating pointer from the plunger.
 3. An arrow testingand straightening machine as set forth in claim 1 in which each carriageincludes a manually operable belt-driving wheel at the front of thecarriage, a cooperative belt-supporting wheel at the rear of thecarriage, a belt trained on said front and rear wheels, and a pair ofintermediate, arrow-supporting wheels engaged and driven in unison bythe upper reach of the belt.
 4. An arrow testing and straighteningmachine as set forth in claim 3 in which the belt has the form of atensed elastic band.
 5. An arrow tEsting and straightening machine asset forth in claim 1 in which the manually operable, deflectioncorrecting means includes a rigid lever, means on the stand supportingthe lever for rocking movement in a vertical plane, and elastic meansconnecting a first or inactive arm of the lever to the stand undertension and thereby biasing a second or active arm of the lever to anormal, idle position above the level normally occupied by an arrowwhich is jointly supported by the carriages.
 6. An arrow testing andstraightening machine as set forth in claim 1 in which a rigidsupporting frame is provided for the trackway and the central stand, anda carrying case is attached to the frame and thereby made an unitary andpermanent part of the machine, said carrying case being of rightprismatic form and comprising body and cover portions having hingedlyconnected rear walls of equal height, and complementary end walls ofvariable height with the back wall of the body exceeding in height thefront wall of the body by a substantial amount and with the front wallof the cover exceeding in height the back wall of the cover bysubstantially the same amount, the construction and arrangement beingsuch that the full height of the carrying case is adequate to containthe complete machine, but the restricted height of the front wall of thetray makes fully and freely accessible the means for operating the arrowshaft turning rollers.